Being Un-offensive in an Offensive World
This Week’s Quick Hits:
Awesome Marriage Online Men’s Retreat
Don’t miss your chance to sign up for the Awesome Marriage Online Men’s Retreat for only $39 during Early Bird registration, which ends May 31. You will hear 10 great speakers along with next steps to help you continue to grow into the man that God created you to be. It is online so you can watch at the time and place that works best for you. Here is the link for Early Bird Registration! (Bonus: use discount code DRKIM10 for an even bigger discount.)
Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is the technology trend of connecting through WiFi. It is the “Internet of Things.” The internet has connected us as people but IoT connects our devices, cars, appliances and of course, our phones. We can already do things like lock our doors remotely and track our fitness on wearable devices. The future promises that by 2030 there will be around 50 billion of these IoT devices creating a massive web of interconnected devices. I cannot even imagine all the new jobs and careers that will come out of this mind blowing technology.
Interesting true facts that you might not know:
In 1862, the King of Siam offered Abraham Lincoln many elephants on the grounds that “a Country as great as the United States should not be without elephants.” Lincoln politely declined.
In 2015, a silver coin with Superman on the head side was made, which is legal tender in Canada. There were only 350,000 produced.
It took the creator of the Rubik’s Cube, Erno Rubik, one month to solve the cube after creating it. As of June 2018, the world record was 4.22 seconds.
One Tough Trivia Question:
What was the ice cream cone invented for? (Answer below)
This Week’s Quote:
Henry James was an American-born British author and lived from 1843-1916. Many consider him to be the greatest novelist in the English language. In 1915, a year before he died, James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
“Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.” - Henry James
“My Way Or the Highway”
Awesome Marriage This Week:
AM Podcast: “Making Your Spouse Comfortable in the Bedroom”
As Lindsay and I continue our break to plan future podcast episodes, we continue with some of our best and most popular podcasts from the past. Join us in this R rated podcast as we talk about helping our spouse feel comfortable with sex and intimacy in the bedroom from taking our clothes off and being vulnerable during foreplay, to sex and orgasm. Great sex depends a lot on how comfortable your spouse is in the bedroom.
AM YouTube Channel: “Juggling the Books” Are you a spender or a saver when it comes to money? What about your spouse? DId you talk about money before you got married? Did either of you “juggle the boots” to keep the other in the dark concerning family finances. Join me on the AM YouTube Channel for this week’s video!
AM YouVersion Plan: “One Foot Out The Door'' This five-day plan is an opportunity for marriages in any season to reflect on how the conversations and relationships around them can give life or death to their marriage. It is specifically written for the spouse who finds themselves struggling, and with one foot out the door.
Dr. Kim’s Insights:
Being Un-offensive in an Offensive World
In Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth over 2,000 years ago he said, “I have become all things to all people.” As I read that this week a lot of things went through my mind.** Was Paul saying that wherever he went, he compromised his beliefs for the people there? Was he saying that living a secular life, rather than a Christian life was okay? Is he telling us that when we are at church or around Christian people to act like a Christian and when we are around people who are not Christians we can act however we want?
I believe the answer to each of these questions is “no.” So what does Paul mean? Here is my take.
Paul had a big job. He was to spread the gospel. He was to tell people about Jesus. He spoke to Romans, Greekls, Jewish leaders, and more. The message he was spreading was a threat to many people and a threat to their way of life. Paul had to figure out how to get the attention of the people in each of these different situations.
For example, when he went to Rome, he mentioned that he was a Roman citizen, which not only kept him from being punished but gave him credibility. In Greece, he connected with the people by talking about their various gods and then telling them about the “Unknown God,” meaning our God. Among the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, he gained respect by pointing out his high level of education. For Paul, “being all things to all people” was his way of being a student of the people, connecting with them, and opening the door to the message God gave him to tell.
Today in the United States, we have many different people with many different beliefs and ideas. We are polarized in many ways. Our differences are more apparent than ever and that has led us to division. Differences are fine. People will always have differences and we need to be able to discuss them and understand each other. Division is a whole different story and we are seeing how destructive it can be. The question I have been thinking about is, “What would Paul do?” I think he would continue to do today what he did then, “become all things to all people.” He would listen well to all people and value them as humans. He would be kind to all people. He would be sensitive to the different cultures and try to understand them. He would love like Jesus did.
Becoming “all things to all people'' requires us to set aside our pride, to be humble, to be willing to let go of “our rights,” to meet people where they are, and most of all to do whatever Jesus asks us to do. It is a tall order but try looking at it this way. What we are doing now is not working. So, why not give it a go?
Next Steps:
Take Paul’s words “I have become all things to all people” and lay that template over your marriage, your friends, and those that are difficult for you to understand.
One Tough Trivia Question Answer:
To hold flowers. A woman visiting the St. Louis Fair in July 1904 was given a bunch of flowers and an ice cream sandwich. She rolled the wafers of the ice cream sandwich into two cones: one to hold the flowers and one to hold the ice cream!
** Thanks to “Got Questions” for great information on this topic and to Andy Stanley for sparking my interest in this topic.